Discovered, Not Found
by BlingBling021
Summary: A little scavenger hunt has been planned. And it's global. The prize is secret, and the tasks make no sense, but everyone is eager to beat the King of Games at -something-. So what happens when they get a little. . . sidetracked? YAOI JS,BR,YY,MM
1. Domino, Japan

Intro Notes: Um. . . hi. I know that I should've been writing the epilogue to 'It's A Magical World', but now it's not Christmas anymore, really, and I don't feel inspired. Sorry. Eventually I'll get it up. But in the meantime I had this idea for a scene pop into my head, and I kind of made up a storyline to go along with it.  
  
Disclaimer: What moron here thinks I actually own Yu-Gi-Oh?  
  
Warnings: Uh. . . this chapter is gonna suck because it's just chicken- scratchings scribbled down? Nah, nothing really for this chapter. Yaoi in the future. Along with better writing skills.  
  
Title: Discovered, Not Found  
  
Full Summary: A little competition has been planned. A scavenger hunt, you might call it. And it's global. The prize is secret, and the tasks make no sense, but everyone is eager to beat the King of Games at -something-. So what happens when they get a little. . . . sidetracked? YAOI: YxY, BxR, SxJ, MxM, mentioned HxO.  
  
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Chapter 1  
  
*Japan*  
  
It was a beautiful summers day as Yugi and the gang, plus Seto Kaiba, headed for the Kame Game Shop.  
  
This particular group of teenagers was on its way to hear about what a certain Sugoroku Motou's latest scheme was.  
  
The elderly Motou had started to hint at a surprise to them a week or so ago, right after school had let out [A/N Do Japanese schools let out for the summer? If not, jeez, sucks to be -them-.] for the next 3 months, and by now they were all dying to know what it was.  
  
The clever senior {1} had continuously let them catch small words and phrases including their names and something else that was big, but otherwise hadn't left them any other clues. When they had asked him about it, he played the fool.  
  
But yesterday, he had finally given in and said they could all come to the Game Shop the next day to hear what it was, and to bring Seto Kaiba.  
  
And that's where they were at the moment.  
  
"Hey, Tristan! Heads up!" Joey called as he chucked a hackey sack at the formerly mentioned boy's head.  
  
"Huh? Ouch!" the brunette cried out as the bean bag bounced off his skull. "Hey Joey! -Heads- -up-!" he yelled as he fired it right back with 10 times the original force.  
  
"Ack!" Joey yelled and ducked, the hackey sack whizzing by and almost clipping Kaiba on the nose. Tristan laughed. Joey grinned and ran off to get their ball back. Kaiba sighed exasperatedly.  
  
"Yugi, will you please remind me again why I have to come to your house with these morons?"  
  
Yugi looked up and shrugged, smiling.  
  
"I told you, Grandpa said it was a surprise and wouldn't tell me yet. . . seemed pretty happy about something though. He told me it'd be worth your while." Kaiba snorted.  
  
"Uh huh. What could -he- possibly have to offer me that I don't already have?"  
  
Yugi, whom Tea had engrossed in conversation in the split second it had taken Kaiba to answer, did not reply. Kaiba huffed and turned his eyes forward again.  
  
Eventually, they reached the Game Shop. Everyone (with the exception of Kaiba) ran in excitedly and just about tackled the elderly Motou.  
  
"Ohohoho! Watch out kids! What in the world has you young ones so excited?" he asked good-naturedly. Yugi jumped to give him a hug.  
  
"You know very well! Tell us what the big surprise is, Grandpa!" he begged happily.  
  
"Yeah! C'mon Gramps! No more suspense!" said Joey.  
  
"Spit it out!" called Tristan.  
  
"-Tristan-!" scolded Tea.  
  
Ryou just smiled, but looked on curiously just the same. Sugoroku smiled as well.  
  
"Okay, now. Hold your horses!" He moved sideways and picked up an envelope from the cashier table, hiding it behind his back, but making sure to give them all a glimpse of it. Kaiba's eyes gave a spark of recognition. He smirked.  
  
"Ooo, what's that?" Yugi asked. Grandpa smiled.  
  
"I suppose you youngsters -have- waited long enough. Okay, I'll tell you!" He put on a cheesy commercial voice. "Listen up, because you are about to get a once-in-a-lifetime offer!" he suddenly boomed, leaping up onto a chair. Kaiba stared, so close to putting his head in his hands at how utterly ridiculous he looked. "Your long waiting has finally paid off! I give you....th--!" But he was cut off as the shop door slammed open.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, Marik is -in- the house!" yelled a poof of platinum blonde hair, sliding in on his knees with gusto. He stood up and twirled around gracefully, humming the theme to 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire'.  
  
There was a dead silence in the room.  
  
Suddenly, Tea squawked. "-Marik-!"  
  
Kaiba groaned inwardly. 'He did his own -theme music-?! Big dumb, -and- tone-deaf! I -wish- I was unconcious for all of this!'  
  
Marik seemed oblivious to the totally confused and a little bit fearful goggling at him. He continued, copying Grandpa's earlier announcer's voice. "And don't forget his irritable, vicious, and all around horrible sidekick, Malik!"  
  
"-MARIK-!" yelled the 'sidekick', promptly appearing inside and punching his yami.  
  
"Hey!" yelled Marik, and kicked Malik back.  
  
"Why you--!" Soon the happy soulmates were in an all around war of flailing limbs, knawing teeth, and scraping nails, while everyone else's confused looks continued, albeit with a sweatdrop added.  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa!" called Joey, snapping out of his reverie. "Break it up!" he said as he tried to intervene and pry them away from each other.  
  
Kaiba, who had immediately backed up against the wall upon seeing the platinum blondes, also started yelling.  
  
"Yugi! What are you trying to pull, anyway?! Why are -they- here?!"  
  
Yugi tried desperately to prevent a death. "Grandpa said that they could come, so. . ." Just then a loud moan came from the fleshball of Ishtars.  
  
When the dust cleared, they saw the two passionately kissing as they rolled around on the floor. As soon as Marik came up for air, Malik pulled away angrily.  
  
"What was that for?!" he snapped. Marik looked up at him confusedly.  
  
"Huh? -You- kissed -me-!" he said. Malik growled.  
  
"It must've happened during the fight. Forget about it," he snapped, turning his back to the other, trying to hide the blush spreading across his face. All the others in the room sweatdropped again.  
  
". . . . . . . . That was fast," Joey commented bluntly.  
  
"Umm. . . the surprise, Grandpa?" Yugi tried meekly. Malik suddenly turned around with an immediate mood change.  
  
"Yeah! Why'd you call us here, anyways?"  
  
"Yes! Tell us!" They all dropped the prior events out of their minds immediately and mobbed Sugoroku again. The elder was thoroughly confused, but smiled just the same.  
  
"Okay, supposing you're ready now. I recieved news today that I--!" But he was cut off -again- with the appearance of Yami out of the Millenium Puzzle.  
  
He yawned and blinked around blearily. "What's going on, Hikari?" he asked slowly. Yugi elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
"Ouch! What was that for?!"  
  
"Shh!" Yugi rebuked. "Grandpa's is about to tell us a surprise!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I said -SHH-!"  
  
"As I was saying," Mr. Motou continued. "I just won--!"  
  
"Yo, Marik! What's up, dirty?" came a voice suddenly from Ryou's direction.  
  
"Bakura! I thought I told you to stay in the Ring!"  
  
"It's cold in there!"  
  
"WILL YOU ALL SHUT -UP-?!" Yugi yelled angrily. Everyone stared at him.  
  
"Dang," said Bakura. "Why you all up in my grill?"  
  
"You aren't ghetto!" said Ryou exasperatedly.  
  
Bakura pouted. "And -you- aren't any fun."  
  
"PMS?" suggested Marik. Ryou and Bakura glared at him.  
  
"Will we please get to the point?" growled Kaiba. "-Some- of us don't have all day to stand around and display ourselves for the fools we are."  
  
"Speak for yourself," grumbled Joey.  
  
"Now now," said Grandpa. "He does have a point. -So-, if you all will finally let me tell you what I have without any more interruptions," Here he glanced at the Ishtars. "I'd like to annouce that I won. . . .(drumroll please). . . . THE LOTTERY!" he yelled, posing triumphantly with the envelope in hand.  
  
Silence.  
  
"That's awesome, Grandpa!" squealed Yugi. Malik looked at the elderly Motou increduously.  
  
"-That's- the big surprise? You won the Lottery? Big whoop. I thought there was something in it for me," he scoffed. "Marik, come on. Let's ditch this."  
  
"Ohohoho, don't be so hasty, now!" scolded Grandpa. "Who said there -wasn't- anything in it for you?" Malik turned around.  
  
"Are you giving me money or something?" he asked hopefully.  
  
Kaiba intervened impatiently. "If this was a charity, what need would -I- have to be here?"  
  
"Will you all be quiet and let me finish?!" yelled Sugoroku. "This is not a charity, nor am I simply bragging! I called you all here because I am proposing a competition!"  
  
This comment definitely sparked the attention of all but Tristan and Tea.  
  
"What kind of competition?" asked Yami eagerly, his hand straying to his duel monsters deck in his belt.  
  
"Oh no, Yami, I'm afraid this will have nothing to do with dueling," Grandpa said. Yami's arm dropped to his side in disappointment. Bakura perked up even more.  
  
"A chance to beat the Pharoah where he doesn't have such a damn unfair advantage?" he asked. "Whatever it is, count me in!"  
  
"Me too!" chimed in Malik enthusiastically.  
  
"Shut up and let's hear what the competition -is-," said Kaiba, obviously just as impatient as Bakura to beat Yami.  
  
"Well," said Grandpa slowly, relishing the rapt attention he was receiving with smugness. "As you already know, I won the lottery, but I only intend on keeping enough to have a comfortable retirement. I'm not going to move to a different house or a different city, both because my soul is here in this gameshop," He looked around fondly. "And because I know that Yugi is happiest here in Domino."  
  
Yugi smiled appreciatively.  
  
"How much money did you win?" asked Joey. Sugoroku smiled.  
  
"One-hundred and forty-two million."  
  
Tristan whistled.  
  
[A/N Um, $142,000,000 is probably an utterly outrageous amout of money, and I'm sorry about that, but I just want to make sure it's as good as endless. And also, think dollars, not yen, cuz I have no idea how they do anything money-related over there. Yeah. I'm done now.]  
  
"Wow!" exclaimed Tea.  
  
"Yes, that's exactly what -I- said!" Grandpa agreed. "So anyway, I am proposing a scavenger hunt!"  
  
He received blank stares from the yamis.  
  
"What in hell is that?" asked Marik.  
  
"It's a hunt where I give you a list of things to find, and you go find them all and bring them back here. The first one back wins!"  
  
The blank stares continued.  
  
"And this is relevant to -anything-, how? What kind of competition is -that- ?" asked Bakura. Ryou nudged him in the ribs.  
  
"I think it'd be fun," he said quietly.  
  
"But how does this have anything to do with you winning the lottery?" asked Kaiba.  
  
"Well," said Sugoroku. "I figure $42 million should be more than enough to retire comfortably, so I have the other $100 million to plan out your trip with!"  
  
"What trip?" asked Joey stupidly, the others thrown off for a moment as well. He received an evil grin. 'Uh oh.'  
  
"Now Joseph," Grandpa said sweetly. "You don't think I would just have you play some silly -children's- game for my amusement, do you?" Joey shivered.  
  
"Um. . . . no?"  
  
Grandpa cackled. "Why of course not! -This- trip, my dear boy, will be -global-." Kaiba narrowed his eyes.  
  
"To what point? You said this was to -your- amusement--,"  
  
"What the heck?!" Malik abruptly asked. "What's up with -this-?! That was staight out of the blue! Are you on drugs or something? How did this come up? What are we talking about? Slow down!" he yelled despairingly.  
  
"What's the prize?" asked Bakura suddenly. "What do I get for all my work if I beat Pharoah?"  
  
"Yeah," cut in Marik. "What -gave- you this crazy idea, anyway?"  
  
Mr. Motou smirked. "You want to know what you win? I can't tell you. Not until all the pieces are collected, at least." Yugi and Yami glanced at each other bewilderedly. "But it will be something that'll matter more to you than anything in the entire world, you can count on that." Grandpa said, attempting suspense. "As for the idea, let's just say I saw something on TV."  
  
The teens looked around the room at each other in amazement.  
  
"You--?"  
  
"How?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Crack?"  
  
"Can we start over?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Yami looked over at Joey blankly. Joey shrugged.  
  
"Sounds good ta me. It's not like I have anything else to do this summer anyways."  
  
"Yeah, me neither!" chimed in Yugi. Kaiba was shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. Bakura seemed to still be making up his mind.  
  
"Will it be dangerous?" he asked.  
  
"Yep," said Grandpa happily.  
  
"Will it be exotic?"  
  
"Oh yeah."  
  
"Will it be a one-time, life-threatening, totally new experience?"  
  
"Most likely."  
  
Bakura grinned.  
  
"Bring it on."  
  
"So, is everyone in?" asked Sugoroku. After another confused silence, there was a chorus of affirmation.  
  
"Uh, I think I'll sit this one out, guys," said Tea.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Tristan. "I'll be too busy screwing Otogi. Sorry."  
  
"Your loss," shrugged Joey.  
  
"Alright then!" Grandpa clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "It's settled! Time for rules!"  
  
Tristan and Tea, deciding that they weren't that interested in hearing much more about it seeing as they weren't doing it anyway, left.  
  
"Well, here goes this insane competition," muttered Kaiba, resigning himself to his instincts to beat Yami, no matter how pointless, out-of-the- blue, and crazy the game might have sounded.  
  
"Anyway," continued Sugoroku. "First up, this will be a teamwork competition!" There was a series of groans.  
  
"What?" whined Bakura. "You mean I'm stuck with someone to slow me down?"  
  
"Yes," Grandpa said firmly. "Everyone, pick a partner." Bakura 'hmph'ed.  
  
Yugi and Yami automatically looked at each other. Yami smiled.  
  
"You've never failed me before, Aibou. Yugi will be my partner," he said, walking over and putting his hands on Yugi's shoulders. Yugi blushed.  
  
"Then I call Mar--" started Bakura quickly.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" shouted Malik. "Soul mate gets first dibs! -I- call Marik!" Bakura growled, but Malik ran over and put his arms around his yami possessively, even though Marik started to squirm uncomfortably at the foreign action.  
  
Kaiba's eyes darted around the room, quickly sizing up how well everyone else would play, and how much they were likely to kill him whenever they felt like it. "I get Ryou!" he called.  
  
"No way!" yelled Bakura, looking both Joey and Kaiba over. "You heard the psycho, soul mate gets soul mate!" He ran over and grabbed Ryou's hand, which made the British boy blush lightly.  
  
"There is no way I'm partnering up with the -mutt-!" sputtered Kaiba.  
  
"The feeling's mutual, snob," Joey snapped back, also having a rather twisted look on his face.  
  
"You will if you want to qualify for this!" Grandpa insisted. Kaiba could have sworn he was snickering inwardly.  
  
"Fine," the CEO spat, reluctantly walking over to stand beside the blonde, leaving a respectable distance in between them. "This prize had better be good."  
  
Yami's eyes laughed at the two of them.  
  
"Good then! Now that that's done, your list of objectives and the rest of the instructions are in these!" said Grandpa, all smiles, holding out a sealed envelope for each of them.  
  
"Hey," said Marik. "How did you know we were going to agree to this nutty idea, anyway?"  
  
"Just a feeling," replied Grandpa vaguely, his smile betraying him. "You will all be leaving for your first destination first thing tomorrow morning, so get packing!" he said as he pushed all but his grandson and the Pharoah out the door. "Have fun!" he chirped, and then slammed the door in their faces.  
  
They all stared at the door for a minute as evil laughter drifted from behind it, then concluded to themselves that they were indeed crazy. They all let themselves have a loophole, and said that sometimes crazy people were the most great and ingenious ones of them all.  
  
Lastly, they all made a mental note to schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist both for themselves, and for Yugi's Grandpa, first thing when they got back.  
  
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End Notes: Okay, I need to know if anyone would be interested in a story like this. As far as I know, I'm the first one to come up with this idea. So, review and tell me, and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this yet, it's just an experiment, so ideas would be welcome. {1}: I just needed to say this; at some churches there are groups called 'Seniors Alive' for  
over-the-hill people, and I think it's hilarious because me and my friends are always like it's better than 'Seniors -Undead-'! Yeah. That's all. Sorry for bothering you 


	2. International Airport

I'm back with another chapter!  
  
Thank you to duenna for reviewing!  
  
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Chapter 2  
  
*Japan*  
  
Back at their apartment, Ryou sighed.  
  
"Remind me again why we're actually going through with that lunatic's idea?"  
  
Bakura looked up from shoving random items into his duffel bag and glared.  
  
"Hmm, I don't know," he said sarcastically. "Maybe it's because -someone- thought it would be -fun-!" he snapped at Ryou. "And so I can laugh at the Pharoah when I kick him around the world and back," he added as an after-thought.  
  
Ryou shook his head silently, a smile curving the ends of his mouth slightly upward. In reality, he was psyched for the trip. A possible 3 whole months alone with his yami! He couldn't wait!  
  
He had had a major crush on Bakura for some time now, and this trip might just be the perfect time to do something about it, he thought happily.  
  
Oh yes, this would indeed be a vacation to remember.  
  
@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@  
  
Thump. Thump. Thump.  
  
"Big brother will you -stop- already?! You're driving me -nuts-!" Mokuba yelled irritably.  
  
Kaiba respected his brother's wishes and pulled his head away from the wall he had been banging it on for the last half hour, clutching it as a wave of migranes hit him.  
  
He groaned.  
  
"3. Whole. Months. . . . Stuck. With. The -mutt-," he growled to himself. Did it get any worse than this?  
  
@%@%@%@%@%@%@  
  
"-WHAT-?!" screeched Joey into a pillow so that his father couldn't hear. He had just opened the envelope that he had recieved about 5 hours ago, and read the instructions for their first day of searching.  
  
The letter said:  
  
Joey,  
  
I hope you're ready for your first day on the road, or rather, -sky-, tomorrow. Ha ha! I know you'll be up to the challenge! You're going to be riding first class to India on a 10:00 AM flight tomorrow, so be ready! For your sleeping plans, you will be staying at a four-star motel, I'm so nice! Unfortunately I'm too nice, because with all the urgency I haven't exactly calculated out all the money you'll be using yet, so you and Kaiba will have to be sharing a room. And hopefully there will be an extra bed. You will recieve more instructions the next day. Tomorrow, just settle down a bit and get to know the area! Good luck from me to you, although, be warned, if you don't work together with Seto you've only got a snowball's chance in hell of winning!  
  
Sincerely, Sugoroku Motou  
  
All Joey's mind registered was:  
  
Joey,  
  
Ha ha!...You're going to be...sleeping...with...Kaiba...and...sharing a...bed! Good luck from...hell!  
  
Sugoroku Motou  
  
He mouthed silently like a fish out of water.  
  
The only coherent thought that he could form was: 'This prize had -better- be good.'  
  
@$@$@$@$@$@$@$@$@  
  
"You're going to be doing -what-?!" snapped Isis at the two relations to her she wished she could remove the most often.  
  
"Going on a scavenger hunt," said Malik slowly. Isis narrowed her eyes.  
  
"And you expect me to just -let- you two go who-knows-where for 3 months unsupervised by anyone or anything whatsoever?!"  
  
Malik and Marik looked at each other.  
  
"Um. . . . yes?" Marik said uncertainly. Isis looked at them angrily.  
  
"What do you take me for?" she asked as if they had greatly insulted her intelligence. "A -loving- big sister?" She suddenly laughed hysterically. Having abrupt mood swings was one of the prominent Ishtar family traits.  
  
Marik pouted. 'Come -on-, Ise [pronounced 'ice'],' he mentally urged her. 'Let me have Malik all to myself for once!'  
  
Isis finally caught her breath, and looked back up at her more or less brothers. But, as she regarded them this time, there was a sparkle in her eyes.  
  
"Malik," she said sharply.  
  
"Huh?" he stupidly replied.  
  
"Do you -swear- on your motorcycle, earrings, and stereo system, that you will look after and out for Marik constantly while you're away?"  
  
"Um. . . ." he looked sideways at his yami, who looked back at him somewhat earnestly. 'Weird'. He nodded. "Yeah." Isis redirected her peircing gaze onto Marik.  
  
"Marik, do you swear on your CDs, new leather pants, and permission to murder someone really annoying on the first thursday of every month, that you will do the same to Malik?"  
  
Marik looked at his other, then back at Isis.  
  
"-All- my CDs?"  
  
"Yes, -all- your CDs," Isis insisted grumpily, knowing full well that Marik -hated- babysitting.  
  
"Mmm. . . ." he groaned slowly. Malik elbowed him. "-Fine-," he humphed.  
  
Isis broke into a wide smile.  
  
"We can go then?" asked Malik hopefully.  
  
"On 3 conditions," Isis said.  
  
"What -conditions-?" Marik wanted to know. Isis held up three fingers, ticking them off as she went.  
  
"One, you -follow- the rules that I just laid down for you and look out for each other." She looked at them pointedly, and they both grudgingly nodded.  
  
"Two, you don't steal anything, kill anyone, get on the news, reveal that I am related to you in any way, get anyone pregnant, cheat at the scavenger hunt, 'accidentally' interfere with anything relating to the government or police, get in jail, kill each -other-, send me any bills or court notices, or do anything else along those lines."  
  
Marik wore a look that plainly said 'Hh! What else is there to -do-?!'. Malik glared at him, then nodded again.  
  
"Finally," said Isis, looking between them. "You are not allowed to come home for at -least- two months, are to leave me in peace, and, if you -do- end up coming home sooner than I would like, you are to sleep outside and ignore any sounds that might be coming from inside the house!" she finished. "Oh, and anything you leave behind is fair game for me to go through, read, or clean out," she added.  
  
Malik seethed.  
  
"-What-?! This is s'posed to be a vacation for -us-, too!" he whined.  
  
"Those are the limits," said Isis firmly. Malik growled again, but knew that further protesting would be worthless. His sister was one of the most stubborn people he knew.  
  
Unfortunately.  
  
"Yeah yeah, we agree," he mumbled.  
  
"Hey," piped up Marik. "What sort of -noises- might be coming out the house for us to hear during the night, anyway?" Isis blushed.  
  
"That's none of your business. Now off with you! Go pack!" she shooed them away quickly.  
  
Malik caught Marik's eye as they ascended the staircase and snickered.  
  
@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@  
  
Yugi shivered as another burst of evil snickering came from downstairs.  
  
"Um, Yami? Did something happen to Grandpa that I missed, somehow?" he asked uneasily. Yami shrugged in a creeped out way.  
  
"I swear I didn't do anything," he said solemnly. "Also, I haven't seen anything weird on TV either." The Pharoah tapped his temple. "No offense Yugi, but I think he might be starting to get a little dusty upstairs." Yugi shook his head.  
  
"No offense taken. I think you might be right, actually." He shivered again. "Well," he said in an attempt to get his mind on something else. "At least we'll get to see the world, right?" Yami laughed.  
  
"Always the optimistic one," he said, ruffling Yugi's hair. "Yes, I think this trip -should- be quite worthwhile, and fun just the same."  
  
"That's the spirit!" said Yugi happily. "We'll just relax, have fun, and leave the rest of the competition in the dust!" he cheered. Yami smiled.  
  
"Yugi?"  
  
"Yeah?" asked Yugi, looking over at him.  
  
"I think I'm beginning to rub off on you," Yami smirked.  
  
@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@  
  
The next morning, the 4 teams arrived at the airport for their 10:00 AM flights in all different directions.  
  
Joey and Kaiba's first destination was India, Malik and Marik were going to Alaska, Yugi and Yami were being shipped off to Mexico, and Bakura and Ryou were destined for Russia.  
  
Yami and Kaiba tried their best to grind each other's hands into a fine powder when they shook and wished themselves good luck, as Sugoroku had forced them to.  
  
"Flight 707 to India is now boarding. Will the first class passengers please come to Gate F? Thank you," said a voice over the intercom.  
  
"That's us, mutt," snapped Kaiba, picking up his carry-on luggage and nudging the blonde rather forcefully in the shoulder.  
  
"It's -Joey- to you," he grit out back. Kaiba snorted and waved him off.  
  
"Whatever. Now hurry up." Joey growled, and grudgingly followed the CEO down to the correct boarding area.  
  
As soon as they were out of earshot, "Hey, I bet Kaiba kills Joey first!" said Bakura cheerfully.  
  
"You're on!" challenged Marik. "50 bucks that the punk kid kicks that stuck up dude's a--,"  
  
"No betting!" said Ryou firmly. "We're on a tight budget," he whispered quietly to Bakura, who scoffed back at him.  
  
"The old geezer just won the fricking lottery! -Surely- we can borrow a million or so!"  
  
"Well. . . . ok, you're right," Ryou resigned. "But I'm betting too!"  
  
Bakura raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Ok then, who do -you- think will kill the other first?"  
  
"Actually," Ryou hesitated. "I bet you one -hundred- dollars that neither kills the other, and another hundred that they'll realize how similar they really are to each other before the summer is over!"  
  
Marik and Bakura looked at each other, then burst out laughing.  
  
"Fine then!" Bakura said through his snickering. "Marik, how about you get one hundred and I get the other hundred?"  
  
"Sounds good to me!" said Marik.  
  
"Hey!" yelled Ryou. "If -I- win, you -both- owe me a hundred!"  
  
"Deal!" said Marik, clapping him on the back. "I want cold hard cash, by the way," he added as an after-thought. Ryou snorted at him.  
  
"Flight 142 to Russia is now boarding," came the voice over the intercom for the second time.  
  
"Come on Hikari!" said Bakura happily, bouncing off down the terminal. Gambling seemed to improve his mood greatly, considering it being what he thought was an ungodly hour of the morning.  
  
"Slow down Bakura!" Ryou called in distress, attempting to go as fast as he could after his yami without being stopped by security guards.  
  
Malik laughed as he ran off.  
  
"Hey Yami, where is Gate M?" asked Yugi suddenly. Yami looked around, spotting a map on the wall.  
  
"Well," he said, analyzing it and trying his best to decipher the chicken scratching symbols that were Japanese writing. "It looks as if," He squinted. "That gate is. . . . on the other side of the airport!" he finished triumphantly. Yugi paled.  
  
Let's just put it this way: that sure as hell was one big-ass international airport.  
  
"Flight 285 to Mexico is scheduled for departure in 5 minutes. Will all passengers please make haste in boarding? Thank you," said that voice over the intercom. Yami would have loved to strangle the owner.  
  
He cursed, grabbed Yugi, and disappeared in a flash of Shadow Magic.  
  
Malik sighed.  
  
"Well, there goes the last of my entertainment. Might as well go board our -own- plane now."  
  
"Yeah," said Marik, also slightly put out by the absence of people to make fun of. He started trudging to Gate I. His Hikari turned to the elderly Motou and saluted.  
  
"Sayonara, sucker!" he proclaimed happily. "See -you- later! And you better have a good prize!" Grandpa just burst into evil laughter again.  
  
Malik stared after him as he was dragged away by the terrorist security, until Marik came and grabbed him, pulling him toward the plane.  
  
"You know, I've been thinking," began the yami. "This plane ride is sure to be boring as hell, so why not do something to spice it up a bit?"  
  
"Like what?" asked Malik. "And let go of my collar! You're strangling me!"  
  
"Sorry," said Marik nonchalantly. "As to your 'like what?', well," He tapped the Millenium Rod and grinned. "Why ride first class, when we can ride in the cockpit?"  
  
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+  
  
Um. . . yeah. I didn't really get anywhere in this chapter. Sorry. I'll try to have the next one up soon. It's gonna focus on Joey and Kaiba, and might actually start to get the story somewhere! ^_^;; Please take a few seconds to review and say this sucks or to update soon, or just to stop while I'm ahead (or behind)! Thanks so much! Holla back! 


	3. New Delhi, India

Gasp. . . . I must be sick. . . . I'm actually updating!  
  
Omg I am so sorry this took so long. I haven't been inspired for this lately, but a few days ago one of my favorite stories was updated so I decided that I should get my butt in gear and update myself! I hade written this chapter before, but it was really angsty and crap, so I decided to do the whole thing over again. Here's to making things up as you go!  
  
If anyone is into KingdomHearts and is feeling really moody lately, I wrote a fic on Riku x Sora. I was feeling really depressed so I couldn't really write this story. And that's my excuse.  
  


* * *

  
-But-, if you are looking for a laugh and don't mind holiday fics that we've already passed the holiday for, I also wrote a Bakura x Yami fic during Christmas. And yeah. I need to stop advertising now.  
  
A -big- thank you to all my reviewers! Puppy Kicker, Mistletou, Sarah Harvey, Star Light Shadow, Faia Ookami, YYHgurl, Kakarika Seiya, ryou-gurl, BarbedWire23, and FREAK014 you really encouraged me! I've been kinda down lately because of relationship problems, but you guys helped cheer me up.   
  


* * *

  
Disclaimer: ALL MINE!  
  
Disclaimer for the Disclaimer: I lied.  
  
Disclaimer number two: Um, I tend to just steal a ton of lines from all sorts of movies and songs and crap in my stories, so just so you know, I didn't come up with them. Not that that wouldn't've been obvious, but just for the people with lawyers as parents. . . . . . I -do- however own some of the jokes, which are mostly based off me and my crazy friends's little pranks. We're insane, and proud of it! For real, our school should have been targeted for a reality TV show by now. XD  
  
Okay, how the -hell- do you do bold and italics? Somebody please tell me.   
  


* * *

  
Sorry I talked so long.  
  
Oh, and please read this slowly because it's rushed and kinda crazy -_-. . . . .  
  
On to the fic!  
  


* * *

  
Flight 707 flew smoothly over China.  
  
After heading away from the rest of the group, Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler had barely exchanged two words that weren't complaints or arguements.  
  
Those words being "Can I have your peanuts?" and "No."  
  
That record remained in place as they landed safely in New Delhi.  
  
'Oh yes,' thought Joey sarcastically, 'I sense an action-packed summer ahead!'  
  
He sighed exasperatedly, once again looking at the stoic CEO in annoyance.  
  
' Well, if -he's- not going to be exciting, -I- might as well work some fun in here!'  
  
Joey snuck up behind Kaiba quietly, then without warning grabbed his collar and yanked it backwards.  
  
"AAK!" Kaiba choked at the whiplash while Joey laughed. "What the hell?!" Seto whirled around, swinging his laptop at the other boy in alarm. "WHEELER!"  
  
The briefcase hit its mark, clanging Joey in the head and knocking him to the ground. He lay there, still.  
  
Kaiba, seriously worried that he had destroyed Joey's few remaining brain cells, bent down to inspect the blonde.  
  
He snorted in disgust upon seeing that he was faking it, and not very convincingly at that. "Get up, mutt."  
  
Joey cracked an eye open angrily. "Who made -you- the boss?!"  
  
Kaiba scoffed. "-Fate- made me the boss, and that should be enough for you. Now do you want to win this thing or not?! GET MOVING!"  
  
"Okay, okay," Joey grumbled. Kaiba stuck his nose in the air and the two trudged silently out of the terminal.  
  
"So. . . . where are we staying?" asked Joey after they had rented a car. Kaiba reached down and got out the envelope that Yugi's grandfather had sent him, taking out a sheet of directions and scanning it quickly.  
  
His mouth dropped and he glared at the page. "He told me we were staying in a good hotel! Not some run-down, third-rate  
  


* * *

  
"What?!" gasped Joey, ripping the paper from Kaiba's hands in panic. 'What if they didn't have two beds?!'  
  
"Give that back, chihuahua!" Seto yelled, lunging at his teammate, for he had no idea where they were going, and needed the directions. Although, being a guy, he was never going to admit it.  
  
He let go of the steering wheel, and the car immediately swerved around and carreened off the road amidst loud honks.  
  
"AAA!" Joey screamed, right before they hit a dead end with a loud CRUNCH, throwing both of them forward into the windshield. The glass shattered when Joey was hurled straight through, but Kaiba was been trapped under the airbag, which had malfuntioned and inflated sideways.  
  
After a few seconds, Joey moaned and sat up, clutching his head.  
  
"Mmmnn. . . . Kaiba?"  
  
"Wh-wheeler!" the CEO gasped from inside the car. His arm was jammed behind him and he couldn't get the door open.  
  
The airbag continued to inflate. . . . .  
  
"Shit!" yelled Joey, diving to get to the car in time. He wrenched open the door, and, putting his hands under Kaiba's arms, yanked him out of the vehicle.  
  
Seto splayed himself upon the ground, gasping.  
  
Joey looked on in concern, but caught himself and quickly plastered on an indifferent look, as if the fact that he had just saved the life of his greatest rival was irrelevant.  
  
"You should've been watching the road, idiot," he snapped. Kaiba wheezed and sat up, glaring.  
  
"Well, if -you- hadn't stolen the directions  
  


* * *

  
"Oh, and right away this is -my- fault!" yelled Joey, surveying the smashed piece of metal that was their rent-a-car.  
  
"-Duh-!" sneered Seto icily.  
  
"Keep your mouth shut, you stinking  
  


* * *

  
"Wait," said the CEO suddenly, narrowing his eyes. "Shut up and listen."  
  
Joey stopped talking confusedly and cocked his head. Then he heard it.  
  
Tick tick tick tick tick tick. . . . .  
  
"Get away from the car, Wheeler," said Kaiba, as he quickly began to drag his own body away.  
  
"Why should I?" drawled Joey, thinking Kaiba was just trying to see if he would obey him.  
  
"Lose the attitude and just get away!" Seto yelled. "Normally I wouldn't care, but without you I'm disqualified!"  
  
Joey stuck out his tongue. "Like I care about -you-! In fact, you -owe- me for saving you!"  
  
"Damnit, mutt! Get -down-!" Kaiba shouted, diving at Joey and tackling him down into the ditch. They rolled down into the mud, the blonde screeching in disgust. They landed with Kaiba's face buried in Joey's chest.  
  
"Get -off- me, you perv!" exclaimed Joey in a panic.  
  
"For the last time, SHUT UP!" the CEO yelled.  
  
"I know I look good, but I don't swing that  
  


* * *

  
BOOM!  
  
There was a humongous explosion above them. Joey shouted in surprise and fear and Kaiba pulled the blonde on top on him to shield his body, valuing his own life far above his teammate's.  
  
Joey latched onto the other boy as big chunks of metal thudded against the ground all around them. Luckily, neither of them were hit. In a few moments in was over.  
  
They lay in silence for a few minutes as the dust settled, before the CEO broke the peace.  
  
"Will you kindly remove your face from my neck?" he asked irritably. "I don't want a ringworm, thanks. And while--OUCH!" Kaiba yelped as Joey shifted to get away. He pushed his rival off of him and gingerly felt his neck, his hand recoiling in pain and horror.  
  
"Ugh," said Joey. "I taste blood. . . ."  
  
"That's because you -bit- me, you moron!" yelled Kaiba, eyes wide. It took a few moments for this to sink in to Joey's head. When it did,--  
  
"Yuck!" he spat. "I just gave the most disgusting person in the world a -hickey-!" He glared. "Of course, if you hadn't had to go and feel me up  
  


* * *

  
"I was saving myself, mongrel!" grit Kaiba icily. "You'd think the TICK TICK TICK would've given you a hint!"  
  
"A hint at what?" asked Joey stupidly.  
  
"There was a bomb in the car!" shouted Kaiba in exasperation and anger. Joey paled.  
  
"My stuff!" He scrambled up the dirt slope, to lay his eyes upon a half- flaming hunk of junk. Kaiba followed.  
  
"My laptop!" he said in horror. "And the letter!" He rounded on Joey. "Look what you did! How the hell are we gonna get out of -this- one?! And on the -first day-! I might as well have had -Marik- as a partner!"  
  
"And right away you go blaming -me- again!"  
  
"That's because it was -your- fault!"  
  
"Says -you-, and -you're- biased!"  
  
"EEERRGH!" said Kaiba in exasperation. "We're not getting anywhere like this!" Joey looked quite ready to retaliate with a stinging insult, but Seto cut him off. "We have to fix this! We're just screwed until tomorrow," he snapped. "The old man said he would send us each a letter the next day."  
  
"Oh yeah? And what exactly do you propose we do until then?" asked Joey grumpily.  
  
"First thing, we have to find a place to stay; it's getting dark," said the CEO, his rationality and business instincts kicking in. He looked around with sharp eyes. "Luckily, I have some pocket money for emergencies like this, but not much."  
  
"Like they're gonna take yen here," scoffed Joey. Kaiba snorted.  
  
"I, unlike you, thought ahead and got some Indian currency," he said. Seto pulled a small amount of said money out of a pocket inside of his trenchcoat. It was crusted with mud and dust, like the rest of his clothing, but it was money nonetheless. Joey scowled.  
  
"And what about our clothes?" he asked bitterly, clearly trying to get the better of Kaiba in -some- way.  
  
"We wash them," said Kaiba, his expression indifferent. He looked around again. "And we can stay in that hotel down the road there." He pointed, and Joey followed his gaze.  
  
"Fine," the blonde huffed. "But we had -better- be staying in the -Ritz- tomorrow!"  
  
"They don't have a Ritz in India, idiot," said Kaiba. Joey glared at him, then stomped off down the road.  
  
A pair of eyes peered out after them. The owner snickered. -They- weren't going to win; he would make sure of -that-. . . . . .  
  
The hotel, as they found out when they got to it, was a modest place. Cramped, but, for the most part, clean and just barely affordable.  
  
Kaiba opened the door, to reveal--  
  
"Whew!" exclaimed Joey. "2 beds!"  
  
"Even if there had only been one, you would've taken the floor," said Kaiba dryly, entering the room himself. "Or maybe you could have slept at the foot of the bed. Isn't that what dogs do?"  
  
"I'm not a dog!" yelled Joey angrily. Kaiba smirked.  
  
"Whatever, Wheeler," said the CEO nonchalantly, looking away with his nose in the air. "That dresser over there is yours. The wardrobe is mine, so hands off," he snapped.  
  
"Why do -you- get the wardrobe, moneybags?" said Joey indignantly.  
  
"Because I don't get -my- clothes off the floor of the dollar store, chihuahua," Kaiba sneered.  
  
"What clothes?" asked Joey smugly. "As I recall, someone placed a friggin' -bomb- in our car, and our stuff is in a little ash pile down the road. Of course, you look quite good in gray,--" he snickered. A vein pulsed in Kaiba's temple.  
  
"Listen up," he growled. "I've been wanting to kick Yami around the world and back since the day I met him. You are -not- going to rid me of the opportunity, kapeesh?!"  
  
Joey stopped laughing and stared.  
  
". . . . . . Did you just say 'kapeesh'?"  
  
Kaiba put his head in his hands.  
  
"My vocabulary too much for you?" he grumbled. Joey, ever the mature one, flicked him off.  
  
"Why did we get bombed today?" the blonde asked abruptly. Kaiba looked up annoyedly.  
  
"It's -not- that hard, puppy. Either it was a random terrorist attack, an engine malfunction where there just happened to be a ticking noise, or -somebody's- cheating, already."  
  
Joey cocked his head. "Cheating?"  
  
"At the scavenger hunt," said his teammate impatiently.  
  
"Oh! Riiiiight. . . . ."  
  
Kaiba scowled at the floor. "-I- wasn't even going to cheat until we met up with someone. . . . ."  
  
"But they don't even know what we're after yet," said Joey. "And everyone else is in other places. I don't think it could have been Malik and Marik, Ryou will be keeping Bakura under control, and Yami has his little righteous idol thing going, so I doubt it would have been one of them. . . ."  
  
Kaiba felt a fleeting pang of shock at the intelligent observation.  
  
"Let's just forget about it for now, mutt," he said after a few moments.  
  
"Fine," stated Joey with no hesitation. "I'm hungry." Kaiba blanched.  
  
"We just almost got -killed-, and you're -hungry-?!" he exclaimed frustratedly. Then his stomach betrayed him and growled.  
  
Joey smirked.  
  
"Fine," Kaiba snapped exasperatedly. "Escaping from murder works up an appetite! So sue me! Where do you want to eat?" Joey beamed.  
  
"Room service!" he cheered.  
  
"-Room service-?" asked Kaiba increduously. Joey nodded enthusiastically. "You have got to be without a doubt the absolute laziest and -moronic- person I've ever met! What makes you think they have -room service- here?!"  
  
Joey scowled. "It says so by the phone!" Kaiba scoffed and went over to the ancient phone, where he saw a little notepad with different numbers on it, including ROOM SERVICE.  
  
He felt quite stupid.  
  
As Joey grinned triumphantly, Kaiba grumblingly called downstairs.  
  
It turned out that he only had enough money to order them each a small amount of meat and rice, which Joey scarfed down before Seto had even managed to raise his own fork to his mouth.  
  
The blonde paused and thought for a moment (a KODAK moment, according to Kaiba), then nodded decisively.  
  
"That'll tide me over for at least a half hour."  
  
"MUTT!" exclaimed Seto, hurling a pillow at the other boy's head.  
  
"Oof!" Joey exclaimed at it collided with him. "Simmer down, jeez! I was kidding! What is with you and clobbering me in the head today?!"  
  
The CEO did not answer and simply sat there, rubbing his temples. Joey took the opportunity to bop him on the head with a pillow in revenge.  
  
"Hey!" Kaiba exclaimed, quick reflexes allowing him to whirl around immediately and whap Joey back. WHUMP!  
  
"AAA!" Joey said; he hadn't been expecting that. THUD!  
  
He knocked the remaining food out of Kaiba's lap when he swung a pillow at the CEO's head.  
  
"Stop!" Kaiba exclaimed heatedly, returning the blow. SMACK!  
  
And so the pillow war began, as it has in so many other fics, but as stated above, the author of this enjoys copyrighting, so. . . . . . .  
  
Soon feathers were flying everywhere as the two hurled pillows relentlessly at each other. It was a sight that would have been unheard of. Kaiba stood on top a bed in socks and muddy clothes, bouncing up and down while blocking the pillows that Joey, in the same garb, was throwing at him from the floor and retaliating.  
  
Joey honestly felt tired of dueling with Kaiba and slinging verbal abuse all the time, and preferred this much more. The guy was so much less stuck up when they were evenly matched at something.  
  
Joey dived onto the bed with an angry "HA!" and grabbed Seto's legs, bringing him crashing down onto the mattress, where a wrestling match began.  
  
Kaiba easily pinned Joey down, and got right up in his face, glowering, to declare his victory, when suddenly Joey caught his eyes for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. Kaiba blinked and backed away, letting go of the boy.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked grumpily, thinking that the blonde was laughing at him. Joey took a few deep breaths, glanced at Kaiba, and then burst into laughter all over again.  
  
"It's--just--us!" exclaimed Joey, eyes becoming wet with mirth. Kaiba stared. Hadn't his teammate been -furious- a minute ago?  
  
"What -about- us?!"  
  
Joey sighed with giggles.  
  
"Don't you realize what total -dumbasses- we're being?"  
  
"No," snapped Seto. In reality, he thought that had actually been more fun than their usual fights.  
  
"Look at us!" Joey said. "We're in the middle of nowhere, our stuff blew up, and we have no money, yet we're sitting here in muddy clothes having a pillow fight! Not to mention we're going to be flat out -last- in the competition. It's just. . . . hilarious!" Joey flopped backward on the bed to stare at the ceiling, still chuckling quietly to himself.  
  
Kaiba blinked.  
  
Now that he thought about it, there -wasn't- any way they were going to get anywhere without working together.  
  
Not to mention he was flipping tired.  
  
He flopped down onto the bed next to the blonde and studied him for a moment, before he tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
Joey turned toward him, and the CEO held out his hand.  
  
"Truce?" he asked. Joey considered it for a moment, his eyes searching his teammate's, and then smiled and shook hands.  
  
"Truce."  
  
Kaiba closed his eyes in relief and laid back. Joey stared at him for a second, then smirked. He reached down to grab a -big- pillow, then lifted it above the CEO's head.  
  
"But I still hate you!" He laughed, and dropped it.  
  
"WHEELER!"  
  


* * *

  
And that's it!  
  
. . . . . . . It sucked.  
  


* * *

  
Sigh. I -am- trying to set up a plot! Really and truly!  
  
But please remember that I am -pretty- much making this up as I go, so ideas would be very welcome! You can tell me where you would like to see them go, and which pairing I should do the next chapter on, and whatever else you would like to have happen, and I'll see what I can do!  
  
And someone mentioned this. Yes, this idea came out of the movie Chipmunk Adventure with Alvin and Simon and Theodore and stuff. It used to be my favorite movie when I was younger. ^_^ So yeah.  
  
Please review. It helps me get rid of my writer's block and feel inspired to write this!  
  
Well, until whenever I get the next chapter out (hopefully it won't take too long. . .), bye! 


	4. Moscow, Russia

Me: -_-;; Would you look at that, another chapter of this thing got written.  
  
Bakura: And it sucks Marik's ass.  
  
Malik: I could do that for you!  
  
Me: Right. . . . anyway, um, yeah. Sorry it took so long. I know where I'm going, but don't know how I want to get there. But a big thank you to the reviewers nonetheless! Oh, and Star Light Shadow, about Seot and Jou going to Hawaii, my mind concocted a whole seperate fic for that O_O;; so I'll see how it turns out. ^_^ Thanks again everybody!  
  
Bakura: I still think you suck.  
  
Me: Shut up you insane murderous jackass drop-dead hottie sexy albino.  
  
Bakura: :)  
  
Me: . . . . Damn. *sighs* Okay, here you go Ryou/Bakura fans. Hope you enjoy!  
  
Please please PLEASE read and review!  
  
',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',', ',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',', ',',',','  
  
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed outside the window of Bakura and Ryou's hotel room in Moscow. The hikari was recoiled under the blankets in fear, whimpering.  
  
Bakura rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Chill out, weakling. It's just a storm."  
  
Ryou moaned as torrents of rain pounded deafeningly against the glass. He could hear the wind shrieking from inside his nest on the bed.  
  
"W-we never had storms this b-bad back home," he stammered shakily.  
  
"You never got caught in a sandstorm either," Bakura scoffed. He stared out the window, recalling the feeling with disgust. "Needles pricking you relentlessly," the yami murmured. "You can't see, you're afraid to breathe that coarse air, the grit biting and tearing at your flesh, all you can do is wait until it's over and pray that you'll still be there. . . ." He trailed off and lightning flashed.  
  
Ryou poked his head out slowly, like a tortoise. He timidly asked, "You experienced one?"  
  
Bakura narrowed his eyes, snapping out of his reverie. "Many."  
  
". . . .Oh. . . ." Ryou said awkwardly.  
  
The light side sat up slowly, and risked a glance at the window.  
  
CRACK!  
  
"Eep!" Ryou squealed as lightning flared not far from their hotel, and dove into the sheets again.  
  
"Oh for Ra's sake!" spat Bakura irritably, stomping over and yanking the blinds down, cutting off the view of the furiously raging tempest.  
  
Ryou peeped out of his hideyhole, then hesitantly emerged.  
  
"See?" Bakura snapped. "Nothing to be afraid of!"  
  
Ryou remained silent and looked at him fearfully, wincing as thunder roared again. Bakura sighed.  
  
"Look, don't make this into one of your sad little 'Bakura's so mean to me' things. I'm intending to -enjoy- my time away from that boring hobo junction you call a house. Why don't we just watch TV or something?"  
  
Ryou nodded nervously, glad for a distraction, even though he knew there probably wouldn't be any Japanese channels in Russia. Bakura went over to turn on the television, but as soon as his finger touched the button, the machine started blowing sparks and without warning, all the power flickered out. The room was plunged into darkness, the only source of light the sparking electricity outside the window.  
  
"KSO!" cursed Bakura, sprinting over and running his singed fingers through cool water. Ryou, who had stood up from the bed, was frozen in fear, staring through the slits in the blinds.  
  
Bakura saw his paralyzation, sighed, and after drying off his hands, walked over to tell the hikari to use the Ring for light.  
  
As soon as he was about to lay a hand on the boy's shoulder, however, a thundering crash resounded throughout the room and Ryou yelled out. He whirled around and instinctively jumped into his yami's arms, knocking them both onto the bed.  
  
"Oompf!"  
  
Ryou cowered into Bakura's surprised embrace, clinging tightly.  
  
"L-light?" asked the dark side uncertainly, awkwardly bringing his arms around Ryou.  
  
Ryou sniffled and shivered. Bakura sighed, and smiled softly, though the hikari couldn't see it.  
  
"Guess you really are afraid of storms, aren't you?" Ryou nodded meekly.  
  
"It's stupid, I know," he mumbled bitterly. "But. . . . it was storming the night mother died. . . ." A tear leaked out.  
  
Bakua gently pulled them up to the top of the bed, and draped a cover over them both. He pulled Ryou closer to him, and they both wrapped their arms securely around each other.  
  
"It's okay, Ryou," Bakura soothed. "Just go to sleep. It will pass. . . . It always does."  
  
'Besides,' he thought to himself. 'I'm never going to win anything with a scared rabbit of a partner.'  
  
Bakura looked down at Ryou, half with fondness. But in the other half of him, the black, backstabbing weasel had begun to emerge.  
  
&^&%&$&#&@&!&~&^&%&$&#&@&!&  
  
Morning in Russia dawned bright and cheery, and whilst the two Bakuras were crunching on their breakfast, a letter was delivered.  
  
"Yes!" cheered the yami and eagerly opened it, Ryou peering over his shoulder.  
  
Dear Ryou and Bakura,  
  
How are things up there in Moscow? I'll bet you're dying to know what your first treasure is! And Bakura, don't wet yourself just yet.  
  
Bakura scowled at the letter and promptly stopped bouncing up and down with barely contained excitement.  
  
Well, here's a clue. You're looking for one that hides in another, that hides in another, and another, and so on. It's quite easily obtained here, and I bet you already know what it is; I thought I would give you a break because this is the first hunt. Enclosed is the next installment of money, and tomorrow's traveling plans. Better find your 'treasure' quick!  
  
--Sugoroku Motou  
  
Bakura blanched for a moment, and then--  
  
"He didn't even tell us what the hell we're looking for!" the yami exploded. He rounded on Ryou. "What kind of stupid impossible game have you gotten me into, hikari?!"  
  
Ryou inspected the letter again.  
  
"Well, it can't be that difficult, obviously." He shrugged. "How about we just go sightseeing for a bit and see if anything catches our eye?"  
  
"I bet the -Phaoah- got told -exactly- what -he's- looking for!" Bakura glowered, not quite finished with his little rant. "I even bet he cheated and tried to use his hikari to coax the location out of that old geezer! Why I oughta--!"  
  
"Calm down, sheesh," said Ryou, rolling his eyes. His yami humphed.  
  
"You weren't so self-confident and know-it-all last -night-." The light side blushed.  
  
"I said I was sorry, okay?" he mumbled embarrassedly. Bakura brushed the subject off.  
  
"Anyhow, just how -long- are you going to -take- eating that nasty, stale, imported cereal?" he grumbled, striding over to pull on his jacket and shoes. "If we're gonna sightsee, let's not wait until dark!"  
  
"We could sightsee in the dark, too!" Ryou defended himself.  
  
"No, 'cause in the dark is when I'm going to go jack us some better food," the dark side scoffed. Ryou shook his head and pulled on his own coat.  
  
"Just wait for me to tie my shoes, then I'll be ready," he offered. Bakura tapped his foot impatiently.  
  
"C'mon!"  
  
"Hold your horses."  
  
"I don't have any. Do you want me to get some? I'm sure the -Pharoah- got horses over in wherever."  
  
"That wasn't what I meant, genius."  
  
"I know I am."  
  
Ryou exhaled in exasperation. "There, I'm done--!"  
  
"About time!" Bakura exclaimed, grabbing Ryou's arm and immediately dragging him out of the hotel and down the street.  
  
They came across tourist maps at the corner, and after much bickering decided that the first thing they would go see would be St. Basil's Cathedral.  
  
"That's it?" said Bakura grouchily as they stepped out of a taxi and into Red Square. "It's just a big church. There's nothing about some -building- that matches the clue."  
  
"Yami," said Ryou reprovingly. "This is a very famous place! You should consider yourself lucky to be here."  
  
Bakura huffed.  
  
Ryou ignored him and looked around, spotting other things that he had learned about in World History.  
  
"And look! There are the walls of the Kremlin! The President of Russia lives there!"  
  
[A/N -Kremlin- comes from a Russian word meaning fortress. Yeah. I take it you all don't want Russian history 101 right now (and that's fine with me, cuz I just have a little paperback book on the country in front of me and am trying to make Ryou sound smart ^_^;;) so I'll shut up.]  
  
"The head honcho, eh?" asked Bakura, eyeing the golden onion domes of the Kremlin's inner buildings with a spark of interest. "So. . . . I take it there's a lot of top secret stuff in there, huh?"  
  
"I'm not sure; I guess so," replied Ryou absently, turning to eye the cost for a boat ride at the lake nearby. Then something snapped in his head and he spun back around in time to catch the sneaky smirk on his yami's face. "Bakura, -no-."  
  
"Aw, why not?" the thief whined, looking at the fortress longingly. Ryou could visibly see his hands itching to carry some random stolen good.  
  
"Because that's not what we're here for," the hikari insisted. "You -promised- that you would behave!"  
  
"Did not!" Bakura retorted. "-You- got us into this, remember?"  
  
Ryou's gaze did not waver.  
  
"-No-."  
  
"You're so boring," Bakura muttered, pouting.  
  
"I'm not in the slammer now either, am I?" the light side pointed out persistently.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, shut up." The yami reluctantly turned away from the Kremlin. "So, are we actually planning to spend more time at this mind-numbing place or are we going to go somewhere -fun-?"  
  
"Well," Ryou piped up brightly, "Actually there's quite a few museums in and around here that I would like to--"  
  
"Taxi!" yelled Bakura, in terror of actually having to learn something.  
  
"Yami!" Ryou said angrily, but he was quickly shoved into a cab and whisked away with Bakura. "Where on earth did you tell this driver to go?"  
  
"GUM," said Bakura happily.  
  
"Gum?" asked Ryou in confusion. The dark side nodded. "Bakura, what in the world are--?"  
  
"I saw a sign for it right over there," the thief said carelessly. The hikari looked out the window, where, sure enough, across the street there was a giant deparment store with the letters G U M on the front.  
  
"Shopping?" he inquired.  
  
"Yep! As long as we have free money, might as well use it, right?"  
  
There was silence for a moment.  
  
"Bakura, why did you have us take a cab when it was right across the street?"  
  
The yami sweatdropped as they pulled up to the doors only about sixty seconds after they had gotten into the car.  
  
"Never mind that now!" he said hastily, ushering Ryou out. "It's time to shop!"  
  
Ryou sighed as he was towed into the mall. Somehow he got the feeling that he would be owing Yugi's grandfather a very large sum of money at the end of this trip.  
  
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\// /////////////////////////  
  
"I don't know. . . ." my hikari's voice came from inside one of the countless dressing rooms.  
  
"For Ra's sake, let me -see- it at least!" I called back irritably. Jeez, you'd think the guy would loosen up once in a while. It isn't even leather! I finally pick -normal- clothes, and he chickens out again!  
  
"Why do you want to see me in this anyway?" Ryou asked suspisciously.  
  
"Because the other clothes that you have are making me gag!"  
  
Seriously though, he only changes his style about once every year! I'm suffocating, here!  
  
"Well. . . . okay then. . . ." Ryou timidly opened the door and stepped out. He was wearing tight designer jeans, a small, bloodred T-shirt that was purposely cut off high enough for a sizable strip of milky skin to be visible, and a trendy sleeveless jacket made from dyed denim fabric.  
  
"You look great!" I said, grinning and clapping my hands together. Ryou blushed.  
  
"I look like a girl."  
  
"You didn't need -my- help to do that. Besides, on you it looks. . . ." I scanned my light up and down, and saw him shift nervously. "Natural."  
  
"I don't look like a girl naturally," Ryou sulked. Oh yes you do, hikari.  
  
I'm not even sure what possessed me to pick those clothes in the first place, but I'm sure glad I spotted them. It's not even a -huge- change, just adds a little spice to his appearance. Those pants are only a -little- bit tighter than his other ones, and by Ra he has a nice stomach (why is my mouth watering?).  
  
He just looks so. . . . cute. . . .  
  
Damn, I didn't just think that did I?  
  
%*&%*&%*&%*&%*&%*&%  
  
Ryou blinked as Bakura shook his head vigorously before looking back up at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing," his yami said, a little too quickly. "We're getting those, come on."  
  
"But--but--," stuttered Ryou, surveying his feminine appearance with distaste again and frantically looking around for a different clothing item. His eyes fell upon a navy blue hoodie. "That! We have to get the hoodie too!"  
  
"Fine," said Bakura impatiently. "Now let's hurry and go get accessories!"  
  
Ryou put his head in his hands.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Many hours and a some very kawaii additions to Ryou later, it was time for dinner, and Bakura was still going with full steam.  
  
"So, Ryou, where we gonna eat? Huh? Huh? Where?" the dark side said hyperly, putting his arm around his hikari's waist yet again.  
  
"Where do you want to eat tonight, yami?" asked Ryou exasperatedly, blushing for the millionth time that day.  
  
Ever since he had gotten that blessed belly shirt, he had noticed that Bakura would not stop touching him. For the first few hours, the dark side's hands on his bare stomach had been under the excuse of "To stop those revolting females from staring at you.", but that had been shot down as soon as Ryou had put his new hoodie on and Bakura continued to slip his hands underneath the material.  
  
Not that the light side was complaining. -Far- from it. He thoroughly enjoyed the giddy feeling he got whenever his yami's hands glided over his bare skin or burrowed their way a slight bit below his waistline, and now the two were simply walking with their arms around each other so that their needs were both satisfied.  
  
Ryou's need being to be able to lean against his crush, and Bakura's need being his sudden, unstoppable desire to touch Ryou more intimately then usual, hence his arm being stuck up the albino's sweatshirt and visibly running over his stomach at length.  
  
[Bakura: A little forward, aren't I?  
  
Me: T-T Cut me some slack. It's what, 2 A.M.?]  
  
Anyway, back to the conversation.  
  
"Really? I can pick?" Bakura exclaimed in excitement. Ryou nodded against his better judgment. "Yes! I pick. . . ." He paused to look around for a random advertisement. "The circus!"  
  
". . . . . . . The circus?" asked Ryou in exasperation.  
  
"Fo sho, dirty!" Bakura grinned.  
  
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WEREN'T GHETTO!" the light side cried, pulling on his hair exasperatedly. The yami jumped back in alarm at his hikari's sudden outburst.  
  
"Jeez, simmer down now!"  
  
"Just get me a friggin' taxi," Ryou sighed. Bakura shrugged and did as he asked.  
  
Within the hour the two were occupying front row seats to the Moscow State Circus, and Ryou was severly regretting having let Bakura buy popcorn.  
  
"Hey, maybe I can hit that lion this time!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"You're so boring."  
  
Of course, it being a circus, basically all there was to eat for 'dinner' was hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, and nuts. [A/N What are you suppose to eat at a Russian circus??] And so the night went on and Bakura got -very- hyper, to the point where Ryou practically had to sit on him to keep him in his seat for the final act. As you know, Bakura had no objections whatsoever to Ryou being on his lap, but did sit still during the finale.  
  
The act definitely went out with a bang. Fireworks, horses, elephants, clowns, jugglers, trapese artists, and much more all burst into the ring, parading around and around to the cheering crowd.  
  
As it drew to a close, Ryou suddenly realized that they had forgotten to find their object that day, which he realized probably put them behind everyone else, which would piss Bakura off.  
  
. . . . . Oops. But then, his yami nudged him in the side rather forcefully and pointed down next to the Ringmaster.  
  
"Hey Ryou, I think those things fit the discription!" he whispered excitedly.  
  
"What things?" Ryou looked around. "Where?"  
  
"There, baka! Those big wooden things!" Ryou's gaze followed his dark side's pointing figure, and he broke into a grin. Down on the stage there were several wooden containers painted to look like figurines, each one smaller than the one before it.  
  
"-Matreshka- dolls! Duh!" The hikari smiled as he remembered their clue while watching the objects be opened and put inside one another.  
  
'You're looking for one that hides in another, that hides in another, and another, and so on.'  
  
Yep, that was it alright!  
  
They promptly went to the souvenier booth to obtain a cheap set of their own, and then headed back to the hotel.  
  
Ryou breathed out a sigh of relief.  
  
One item down, and only Ra-knows-how-many to go.  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
tbc?  
  
Bakura: SEE! I was right! Crap-city!  
  
Me: I had writer's block, ok?!  
  
Bakura: NOT WHEN YOU'RE WRITING ABOUT ME IT'S NOT OK!  
  
Me: . Please review and forgive me for being a crappy authoress! 


End file.
